"Whatever your personal reason for handcrafting, making things can be not only good for your soul, it can (let's face it) also be good for your bottom line."~ from Kari Chapin's The Handmade Marketplace

As you might suspect of the co-author of Granny Chic, Rachelle Blondel believes in doing things the old-fashioned way -- especially when the old-fashioned way is simpler and more natural. Here, she zeroes in on tried-and-true techniques for natural homemade living. In sections addressing home, garden, health, and beauty, Blondel takes on subjects as diverse as making paint, raising chickens, soothing sunburns, and matching types of stains to stain removers. With a no-frills design and down-to-earth approach, Forgotten Ways for Modern Days will "prove invaluable to those who earnestly want to reduce waste, save money, and live purely" (Publishers Weekly).

You know that last bit of mustard that's impossible to scrape out of the jar? Did you know that shaking it up with some oil and vinegar can turn it into a zesty vinaigrette? That inventive recipe is just one of the many in this deliciously practical volume dedicated to reducing food waste. Leaves, stems, crusts, bones, and all sorts of typically discarded food scraps are transformed into salads, pickles, broths, sauces, snacks…with 150 recipes, the list is long, and will surely be relished by cooks who are concerned about money, the environment, or both. For a more veggie-centric take on the same topic, pick up Tara Duggan's Root-to-Stalk Cooking.

Anyone with a green thumb and an interest in sustainability can join the revolution led by these authors -- a landscape designer and a horticulturalist -- who argue that traditional landscaping is time-consuming and ineffective. They claim that more environment-specific plant selection and less disruptive upkeep (such as weeding and tilling) yields attractive, easily maintained landscapes. These claims are supported by the solid advice and artful, color-drenched photographs featured throughout the book. While Garden Revolution is best suited to landscapers or gardeners with plenty of space, those looking for scalable projects may appreciate Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy's The Living Landscape or Thomas Rainer and Claudia West's Planting in a Post-Wild World.

If you're in possession of an ice cream machine, some standard baking equipment, and an epic sweet tooth, this drool-worthy collection of innovative ice cream and dessert recipes is for you. Each of the 60 recipes for frozen treats comes with a perfectly paired dessert recipe, enabling you to serve up irresistible combos such as coffee-poached pears with hazelnut gelato, peanut brittle pie with popcorn ice cream, and pine nut pound cake with orange marmalade frozen custard. If the variety alone isn't enough to tempt you, the encouraging tone and useful tips (such as how long to store each ice cream, or how to improve your pie crust) may just win you over.

In the age of Etsy and Pinterest, your success at selling handcrafted items depends not only on your crafting skills, but also on your ability to display them attractively online. Beginning with a tutorial that will help you find your way around a digital camera, the book also offers clear instructions (and ample examples) of how to set up a shoot, make your own photo accessories, find the right light, and edit your photos for a variety of uses. Additionally, nine separate breakout sections present craft-specific photography tips, ensuring that you're always able to capture the "good side" of anything you make.

In the exciting and bewildering world of craft-based business, a trusted advisor like Kari Chapin can be invaluable. A crafter and business coach, Chapin writes in a clear, supportive style about how to connect with customers (how much marketing is too much? how can you make social media manageable?) and how to find the right sales venues (online? craft fairs? brick-and-mortar stores?), as well as how to master the details of small business administration. From the first phases of a start-up to finally quitting your day job, The Handmade Marketplace shares the insight you need to boost your business savvy without sacrificing your creativity.

If you want to make money from crafting but the word "branding" gives you the cold sweats, this helpful how-to guide may be just the reassurance you need. Boasting a stylish design, this photo-rich handbook provides step-by-step instructions for potentially daunting tasks: organizing your workspace, getting visible in the marketplace (both real and virtual), merchandising your work, cultivating a social media presence, and (you guessed it) personal branding. Profiles of successful crafters provide positive examples throughout, making this guide ideal for beginning craft entrepreneurs.

As the creator of Gingercake, an online pattern store, Virginia Lindsay has plenty of business expertise to share. The real value of Sewing to Sell, however, is its emphasis on the creative process. For instance, Lindsay points out that before you can make your first dollar, you'll need to define your personal sewing style to ensure that it's distinctive enough to anchor a product line -- and that's just the first of many steps toward a profitable and artistically satisfying career. Rounding out this upbeat volume are 16 marketplace-ready projects (complete with step-by-step instructions and permission to sell) for sewists who aren't sure where to start.

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